Today's Sermon: Being the Church: First Importance
Bible Study Audio
Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
February 13, 2022
Opening Prayer
O Lord our God, teach us, we beseech Thee, to ask Thee
aright for the right blessings. Steer Thou the vessel of our life toward
Thyself, Thou Tranquil Haven of all storm-tossed souls. Show us the course
wherein we should go. Renew a willing spirit within us. Let Thy Spirit curb our
wayward senses, and guide and enable us unto that which is our true good, to
keep Thy laws, and in all our works evermore to rejoice in Thy glorious and
gladdening Presence. For Thine is the glory and praise from all Thy saints forever
and ever. Amen.[1]
Romans 8:14-17
For all who are led by the Spirit of God
are sons of God. 15 For you did not
receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have
received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba!
Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with
our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if
children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with
Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified
with him.
v. 14
Those who are led (passive verb) by the Spirit
- Alternate translation: Those who are being led by the Spirit …
- As opposed to those who are led by their flesh – which is not mentioned.
- v. 13 emphasized our active participation involved in “putting to death the body”
- Now v. 14 emphasizes that even that is, at its core, the work of the Spirit. (Hence the passive verb.)
Are sons of God
- Most English translations render this “Children of God.”
o
This is due to the culture’s focus on gender inclusivity
and does not reflect the text.
o
The word here is “uioi” – sons.
§
This masculine plural is sometimes used as an all-inclusive
for children when there is a mix of male and female.
§
Sometimes, rendering it as “children” is absolutely
fine.
§
There is a word that generically means
“children” – tekna (which is feminine).
·
John 1:13 But as many as received Him (the
Word), He gave them authority/right to become children (tekna) of God.
o
Sometimes changing “sons” to “children” changes
the force and meaning of the text.
§
“Child” denotes a natural relationship.
§
“Son” implies a natural relationship, plus
status and legal privileges.
§
“Children” were not necessarily “heirs” in Roman
culture.
§
Daughters were often excluded from inheritance –
though not always.
§
In any case – the male/female dynamic is not
what is in view here.
§
The move is from enemy to heir, from slave to
son.
·
Roman culture allowed for a slave to be adopted
and to become a son and heir.
o
Paul’s usage of uios and tekna
matters, too.
§
Paul uses the word tekna (child) thirty-nine
times – never of Jesus.
§
He uses uios (son) forty-one times –
almost exclusively of Jesus.
§
In Romans 8, Paul emphasizes that redemption
comes only through Jesus – the Son.
§
Yet all baptized believers in Christ are sons
here.
§
Paul will go between uios/sons (8:14, 19)
and teknos/children (8:16, 17, 21) as he describes believers as heirs in
this section.
§
But the inheritance isn’t properly ours as teknos,
it belongs to Jesus the uios/son, but because we are in Christ we are uioi/sons
and therefore heirs.
§
The language emphasize our connection to Jesus
THE Son – whether we are male or female.
v. 15
You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into
fear …
The phrase in Greek reads, “For you did not receive a spirit
of slavery again into fear…”
- It isn’t that we go back into fear, but that we have not received a spirit back of slavery again, which then leads into fear.
- There is a spirit of slavery and a Spirit of adoption – part of the Christian life is to wrestle against, to kill, the spirit of slavery.
o
Baptism – drowning
o
Daily repentance
o
Confession and absolution.
o
Receiving the Lord’s Supper
o
“If you put your confidence in baptism to the
point that you neglect your behavior after it, Paul says that, even if you are
baptized, if you are not led by the Spirit afterward you will lose the dignity
bestowed on you and the honor of your adoption. This is why he does not talk
about those who received the Spirit in the past but rather about those who are
being led by the Spirit now.” – Chrysostom (347-407), from Homilies on the
Epistle to the Romans.
- When did we receive a spirit of slavery?
- John 8:34 – “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”
- Sin enslaves – like addiction
o
This is one of the reasons we must “put to death
the deeds of the body.”
o
The image of sin as yeast (Galatians 5:9, Luke
12)
o
This is one of the dangers of normalizing sin.
How would this spirit of slavery lead us into fear?
- Fear can be used positively when it speaks of “fear of God” or “fear of the Lord.”
- Small Catechism on the Commandments, “We should fear and love God so that …”
- But here the context shows us this fear is negative – expressing anxiousness, dread, or terror.
You have received the Spirit of adoption/sonship/adoption as
sons, by whom we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
- The word translated adoption as sons is a compound word connecting the noun “son” with the verb “to set or place.” Literally, “to place as a son.”
The contrast is between fear and faith – by which we cry out
“Abba! Father!”
o
In the Psalms to cry out is to offer urgent
prayer – and it is used this way over forty times.
o
Abba is Aramaic for “daddy” – the familiar form
of father.
§
“Not the lips, but the feelings are speaking
here…” - Luther
o
It is found in two other places in the N.T.
§
Mark 14:36 - And [Jesus] said, “Abba,
Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from
me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
§
Galatians 4:6 - And because you are sons, God
has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
o
The Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer - “Our
Father who art in heaven.” What does this mean? With these words God
tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His
true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear
children ask their dear father.
o
Fear leads us to cover our backs, to wonder if have
we done enough, offered the right sacrifices, did more good than bad, etc. It
leads us to trust in ourselves or something else that is ultimately unreliable
for our salvation.
o
Faith leads us to believe in God as a devoted,
loving, daddy who will certainly do the good we need.
v. 16
The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are
children of God, …
- Deuteronomy 19:15 - A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.
- Our confession of faith is corroborated by none other than the Holy Spirit.
- Since the Holy Spirit dwells in the elect who have come to faith as he dwells in his temple, and is not idle in them but urges them to obey the commandments of God, believers likewise should not be idle, still less oppose the urgings of the Spirit of God, but should exercise themselves in all Christian virtues, in all godliness, modesty, temperance, patience, and brotherly love, and should diligently seek to “confirm their call and election [2 Pet 1:10] so that the more they experience the power and might of the Spirit within themselves, the less they will doubt their election. For the Spirit testifies to the elect that they are “children of God (Rom 8:16).” – Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration XI
v. 17
and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs
with Christ, ….
- What do we inherit in Christ?
[1]
St. Basil the Great (330-379), found in 100 Prayers Every Christian Should
Know, Bethany House Press
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